The Eleven 9.11.18
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9.11.18 The Eleven
September 11, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Beloved 2018
August 22, 2018 by
Beloved 2018
This was Beloved Festival‘s 11th magical year. If you know me at all, you know that 11s are a big part of my life. From my newsletter (The Eleven) to my birthday (the 11th of May) – 11’s are key. You may have also seen me raise my hand when the question “who’s here for the first time?” gets asked. That’s another story (beginner’s mind…). So, one thing for me that was fun about Beloved this year is that I’ve been there since the beginning and I also try to approach things as if I’m there for the first time. I was scheming to make a t-shirt with the Beloved logo on one side with the year 11 on it and on the other side the slogan Beloved Virgin (1st year!), but never got around Tuit. Speaking of t-shirts, some of the stage crew wore black t-shirts this year with the word Belivid in bold white letters on them. Striking and potent.
My friend Matthew Burns did an interview with me on the last day of the festival this year. If photography is your thing – Carlton Ward took a great collection of photos this year – check them out (any photos that are published here are from him!). And, Maggie Jane Cech did these beauties!
As I mentioned, I’ve been attending the Beloved Festival for many years. Each year is different – depending on the site; weather; who I’m camping with; relationship status (I’m single and looking!); who else shows up each year; how easy it is to get in and out of the festival; and 100 other factors. That’s also partly why it’s useful to have a beginner’s mind – ie, not expecting that the experience will mirror past experiences saves you from the frustration you might feel when something has changed. And Beloved Festival always changes as we continue to change, too. My first year going I was 46 and now I’m 57 – ha, my life has significantly changed through that time, of course. The way Beloved has changed is a little bit structural – the layout of the festival – but the main change this year felt like an invitation or encouragement by the festival organizers for us all to challenge ourselves to go deeper.
Beloved Festival is full of seekers. People who are passionate about their craft – whether it’s yoga; eating healthy food; personal growth; healthy relationships; learning about and practicing consent culture; music; dance and many other passions are well represented. My sense this year was that there was a question in the air: “Are we doing enough personally and as a group to change the world?” Sub-questions around this are: are we doing enough to end racism? Is this event doing enough to be inclusive (the attendees are mostly white, and probably middle class, though class issues are not usually raised at the festival). How can we take the amazing lessons we learn at Beloved and bring them into our lives; our relationships and into the world? This is something I was chewing on a lot at Beloved this year – beyond just digesting my experience – how can we take this event and all that it teaches us out into the world? I know not everyone in the world can attend Beloved – most won’t get a chance to even attend something similar and even if they did, they would probably only take away a relatively small amount of the wisdom that is shared there. For years I’ve imagined a video testimonial/interview booth for people to share their insights during the festival. We’re brought to such a peak state and that would be good to share – I believe it would be a positive influence on the world. This year we were asked to look at our shit – both internal and our actual poop 🙂
These composting toilets were quite incredible (I believe the compost is left on-site and used to fertilize the property where this event is held. The troughs between the private toilets were for men. Perhaps in future, there will be herinals for women (like the ones at Oregon Country Faire 🙂
Then, there’s the Beloved Festival by night. One change that I was quite happy about was the return of video mapping of the stage. There was just a light dusting of that this year, but it’s quite lovely to behold. See Carlton’s pictures for more of that imagery. Beloved at night is quite special. There is one main stage and most people are either dancing; having food or wandering to and from their campsites. This makes it a great place to drop in with people and for years I’ve been talking about the festival being my annual men’s workshop. Ie, there’s nowhere to go that’s not in the center of things – so, when you meet someone it’s easy to settle into a longer, deeper conversation.
There is so much incredible intention put into this festival. Everything possible is thought of. In the first few years, some of the systems didn’t work so well, but now just about everything works beautifully. I’ll include some improvement areas down below, but here I just want to say HUGE kudos to the staff and many many artists who make Beloved such an incredibly beautiful place to inhabit for a few days. Just about everywhere you look artists like Nature and his crew came early to manifest beautiful interpretations of nature using the natural art materials found nearby. Making installations like this: 
I’ve written about my visits to the Beloved Festival in the past. (that’s a link to my 2010 write-up if you’re curious about the changes over the years 🙂 This year felt a lot deeper to me than in years past, but that might also be partly where I’m at right now in my own life. Here are a few major highlights from this year.
- Mornings in the woods with campmates => Sharanam Anandama => Solsara practice daily. That’s quite a combo and I’ve been trying to make it happen on every Beloved day for years. Usually I get to 2/3’s. But this year I was able to catch a little of both each day. Solsara happens in Portland and Eugene regularly – a great, accessible personal growth practice (featuring Carrie and Larry!)
- Sara Tone and friends and how they called in the directions and opened and closed the festival. This felt like the most profound opening and closing ceremonies I can remember. People seemed more focused and attentive than I can remember them – and Sara Tone and Michael Meade both shared few but profound wisdom with all of us – setting the tone for the festival ahead. The magic of facing towards the mountains in each direction – Tahoma, Wy’East, Shasta, and Fuji (with a deviation to focus on Pele on the Big Island this year which was new…) were powerful! We also sing together “medicine for the mountain” and Sara Tone calls out all of the native tribes that were or are based in each area before we sing – it’s very profound and powerful. If I can find a video of this, I would be glad to share it, here.
- Seeing the master guitarist and songwriter, Peter Rowan on the Tree stage was a big highlight for me. Peter’s been such a big part of my life over the years – performing on Old and In the Way and in so many other arrangements that his voice resonates deep in my soul
- Seeing old friends. This year had a special aspect to it for me – I feel like a lot of people I hadn’t seen in 2-3 years decided to return and visit again. That was special as I also notice that many in my tribe that used to camp together have stopped attending festivals more and more – so, it’s hard to have that posse feeling when that happens. I also enjoyed making some new friends – Patty and Mike from Connecticut – who flew across the country to attend their first Beloved! (get in touch, ya’all!).
- Whoever started the creation of the vulnerable signs and parade (vulnerability rally) – that was a beautiful effort and reminds me of something that happened at WDS this year. I’m referring to this talk by Yes, Yes, Marsha.
- The music – so much great world music. I’m not sure how long this will stay up, but here’s this year’s line-up. I don’t usually attend festivals on who’s playing – I’m generally pretty happy with organizers’ choices and this year felt like an incredible offering. Angélique Kidjo playing Talking Heads Remain in Light? Over the top fun! Ayla Nereo? Wonderful!
- Sound: generally better over the years and this year was probably the easiest on my ears. That said, it’s often still way too loud – Blackalicious, for instance, was too loud for human consumption. Please – it never needs to be that loud. My friend suggests walking out into the audience with a decibel meter and seeing what the levels are. Thanks.
- Most of the lighting at Beloved is glorious. And, there are bright lights that come out towards the audience at the Purple dome – I wish those would be turned off or turned down, or out of audience’s eyes. Also, the blaring headlight bright lights that shined out onto the audience from the main stage – I don’t like those at all. They are jarring and I don’t like the trend of the way these are being used at festivals.
- The art: particularly the natural installations I mentioned above – but also all the lighting and fabrics and thought put into making the festival grounds beautiful, festive and sacred. The alters on either side of the main stage were breathtaking and a great reminder of how to mix the divine with a festival.
- More photos by Melissa Robin, and Andrew Paul
- th Beloved! – Spotify Playlist of this year’s artists!
Alter to the left of mainstage
I’ll probably add to the list of highlights as I think of them. Here are a few improvements I’d like to make for Beloved Festival’s 12th year. The festival already does so much right it’s hard to even consider posing some suggestions, but after 20 years as a software tester, I think it’s part of my DNA to share bugs with the hope that developers will improve the software 🙂
- The new composting toilets are world-class. I’m not sure where to put more of them, but a couple more either where they are currently, or one more bank behind medical wouldn’t hurt. Also, Herinals like at OCF would be a nice addition.
- I arrived on Thursday for early entry and spent about an hour on a hillside slowly moving towards a parking spot. I’m not sure what the solution is, but I’ve had easier entries in the past. I was parking and camping in the Far Mosque area (hard parking) and if there had been a couple more traffic people I believe I would have been parked quicker. There seemed to be an issue with people coming out while people were coming in, plus only one person was moderating a long line-up of cars. Anyway, not sure about the solution here, but imagine it can be improved.
- Having the Purple Star Dome where it was made workshops there hard to follow due to the sound from the main stage. Again, not sure where the best location would be.
- I missed the Grove stage (sound healing) altogether this year – having that so far from the main area .. hmmm. How about @ the Gazebo?
I’ll add to this list as I think of things, but the improvements for the Beloved Festival are probably well-known by the organizers and are nothing like the ones I’ve written up for Strummit. Overall, this year’s Beloved Festival is something I’m still chewing on and digesting. I still haven’t taken my wristlet off which is usually a sign to me that something was remarkable 🙂 In fact, Beloved is the one festival which I see people leaving their wristlets on for a year or more – which tells you something. Early Bird tickets usually go on sale for Beloved in the Spring – join their email list and perhaps we’ll share a dance there next year! Also, there’s a somewhat active FB group if you’d like to hear about other events and connect with other Beloveds throughout the year.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback/comments to me, or below.
Albert Kaufman
PS – did I mention I found a new place to dance (face altered by Maitrea)? Oh, and I skipped the word LOVE. Love is a big part of this festival – add in love. Loved the food. Loved the rain (fresh air). Loved the people I camped with. Loved the ride to the festival. Loved the ride home. Love thinking about Beloved. That.
PPS – The Economist weighed in this year.
Strummit 2018
July 24, 2018 by
Strummit – Northwest String Summit
Peacocks adorn Horning’s Hideout – This is one of two tapestries created by Tika Bee that adorn the main stage.
Here’s my review of Strummit 2018. This was my 3rd visit to the festival and I think I’m on board for more more more! Here are some of the highlights and some suggestions to make the festival even better.
Highlights!
Well before the festival began this year I joined the Strummit Family group on FB. This was a super helpful resource to connect with others and get some tips on how to enjoy the festival. I tried to find a camp that might like to have my jamming skills – but failed to make that happen – particularly because when I arrived and was parked (nice job volunteers) on Thursday – I took my tent and started to wander – and found Shakeytown right away and planted myself. I got there in the afternoon and didn’t realize that I planted myself in a spot that got early morning sun – note to self for next year – camp in forest like everyone else 🙂 I did end up amongst some folks who were up for jamming, though – and had a great opening time the first couple of days jamming with nearby neighbors.
Then, it was time to head out and hear some music – I was not disappointed! Here’s the 2018 lineup. The way the organizers spread out the sets/musicians it was not too hard to hear most of the bands play at least once. Friend/Hero Chris Chandler recommended I hear The Deer – so I made a big move to do that – and am grateful I did. Another band that moved me is Dead Horses. One of the fun things about Strummit is that bands come from all over the country (and world!) to play. The festival-goers are also from all over the place – so you meet people who’ve dedicated themselves to this music and their enthusiasm and excitement are really palpable. There’s hardly anyone there who is not extremely excited to be there. You can also see this in how people wear the t-shirts of their favorite bands – I could do a whole post just on all the fun t-shirts and slogans I saw all weekend.
And, that’s the real magic of this festival. It’s the people. It’s like a family – there is a lot of care between everyone – an encouragement to live big and really enjoy what’s happening. I saw this in so many expressions. It reminded me of Oregon Country Faire in some ways – the way that festival is also a giant family – but Strummit, being a smaller fest, takes the caring to a deeper level.
Here’s a map of the festival grounds. This is not a topographical map 🙂 By that I mean that there are hills to get between each area – you can’t avoid climbing and descending multiple times a day – and I found this + dancing my ass off led to a case of very tired legs by Saturday 🙂
There’s almost too much going on. I heard so many great sets on the main stage – and right after they finished there would be an awesome tweener set up above the bowl where the main stage happens. There was hardly time to breathe for hours – switching between bands and stages 🙂 Possibly, this is a good problem to have 🙂 This was a hot year – 90-degree temps – so moving about from shady spot to shady spot was key – luckily, the bowl sits among a lot of tall trees (here’s for keeping big trees standing!!!!) – many hammocks are strung amongst the trees, too.
This year I discovered the Cascadia stage. It’s a smaller venue where the music starts up early every day. Lucky for me this stage was located very close to Shakeytown. It was a great place to spend the morning hearing some of the acts up close with fewer people. There was even lots of yoga this year – something I don’t remember from my previous visits in 2014-15 (I think).
Other highlights – Yonder’s Sat. night set – they always do a special artist – this year they did a bunch of Steve Miller songs – which they played beautifully, featuring my friend, Asher Fulero on keys – Fly Like an Eagle, The Joker, Take the Money and Run, etc. I kept waiting for Fly Like an Eagle – and they ended with it. I was wearing my Eagles Championship ski hat – and had the biggest grin on my face!!! The light show that night was also spectacular as always during the Yonder night shows. I’ve seen a lot of great light shows (hello Beloved Festival!), but these folks have a lot of fun with the light tech.
Sideboob ft. Allie Kral, Mimi Naja, Shook Twins, etc – played a show late Sat. night. It was an invite to all the women playing in various bands to join together. They did a great version of Put a Ring on It, and many other popular tunes – I’d love to see this act continue and be featured on the main stage – for so many reasons (1. for young girls to see that they too could be on this stage one day 🙂 Fantastic costumes and playing!
Lots of magic; great food – it was fun to reconnect with my buddy Blissful Wunders and sample some of his truffles. I missed not having Get Fried Rice there – but Boke Bowl and funnel cake and tacos – all was well in food and drink land. So, overall, there are many things that this festival gets right right right. Great location (so close to Portland – wow!); pretty easy in and out; nice camping spaces; great, enthusiastic people; lots of great volunteers helping things go smoothly; the prominent medical team at the ready; encouragement and help for folks who are alter-abled (they had a shuttle to help people get where they needed to go if they were unable to climb to and fro.) – and, it’s time for some ideas for improvement – ready? Here goes. Luckily, it’s not that long a list.
Improvements
- Water: There is one place to fill up water containers (2, but they are right next to each other – thank you Klean Kanteen… Ideally, there would be more places for people to fill up on water. Speaking of water – Strummit might copy what OCF does and have some misters strung in various places – like across the bowl 🙂 If people are going to be dancing on a hot, sunny day, a mist would definitely help keep em cool.
- Washing – Beloved Festival has an awesome clean-up station – 4 sinks on each side – well-lighted. I’d get in touch with them and see about bringing this feature to Strummit. Makes it easy to brush one’s teeth and wash faces.
- Gators. I get it – these are how musicians’ gear gets from stage to stage – but can anything be done to limit the # of trips? I saw many gators out and about – often empty. Also, I’d see one band’s stuff get dropped off at the Cascadia stage – then, the gator would leave – only to come back a half-hour later to pick up the previous band’s instruments and take them away. How about leaving the gators in place to wait for their next use – seems there are many of them. The fewer gator trips the better because – they compete with pedestrians on the pathways and they also kick up a lot of dust.
- Dust + Smoke. Here’s one I don’t know the answer to – but I still have a chest cough from this festival and I imagine it will go on for a while. Part of this is the dust from the roads (see #3 issue/solution), but part of this is from people smoking and vaping everywhere. This leads to being in popular places like the bowl, surrounded by 1,000 people, and never getting a fresh breath of air. I don’t know exactly what the solution is – but one thought would be for people who want to smoke to pull off to the side somewhere. Cough cough.
- This is a weird one and I’m sure it wasn’t planned – the reefer trucks at the top of the hill back directly into the porta-potties. Perhaps spacially, this works, but the volume in the porta-potties can be intense! Same with the other porta-potties at the Cascadia stage (a generator backs into those…). This probably led to the lowlight of the festival for me – post Yonder on Sat. night – coming into a porta-potty and having the reefer truck engines kick in. Ouch, weird timing.
- The VIP Peacock Club. This didn’t exist the last time I attended and it’s kind of awful. It leads to losing access to part of the lake (the ability to walk around the whole thing, for instance) and it just feels elitist. I highly recommend doing away with this “feature”.
- Lighting – generally, pretty awesome. I don’t think shining bright lights into the audience is good for anyone. Sure, once a set or night, but there’s an overuse of blinking and shining lights into peoples’ eyes which is stunning (not in a good way). That’s a personal preference, but my guess is it’s stressful on the body.
- Sound. This one’s hard. The thing that draws everyone to this festival (musicians included, I’m sure) is the quality of the music. I tend to think that most festivals play music too loud and I was pleased that Strummit seemed a little more chill than on my previous visits. That said, the mixing of the music seemed off way too often. I tried to comment to the sound tech guy at the Cascadia stage morning sessions but then got tired of giving him feedback. Really, I’d suggest this become more of a priority. For a band to come all the way from Wisconsin or Australia and then have the bass be so loud that it drowns out the other instruments or for something to be feeding back and no one doing anything immediately to fix it – that seems unprofessional. Perhaps having teams doing sound would help? I know this is not an easy feat – mixing people band after band in odd configurations day after day – but I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed this. PLEASE STRUMMIT, LOOK INTO THIS ONE!
- Signage – Would be great to have a sign on the way out once you reach the main road – make a left to get to 26. Also, simple signs affirming you’re on the right path from 26 to the festival on the way in would be great!
Whew, that was hard, and I’m sure it’s going to be hard for some to read. Know that this festival rates an 11 out of 10 in my festival rating system. I am still riding very high from my visit.
Sometimes a video can paint a thousand words – here’s the promo video for this year. But really, if you’re thinking of attending Strummit – search the YouTubes for various bands that have played there. There’s nothing like experiencing the surprises the folks pull out of their hats.
Here’s a nice article about Strummit from 2016. Perhaps I’ll see you out there next year. My wish would be to come back as a performer. Feel free to leave comments below. Also, I’ll probably add to this – see below the pic for more as I think of it.
Not sure what category this fits into. But given this is a family – here’s a thought. Since the US healthcare system is failing many – I wonder if there could be something like this set up at Strummit. I don’t know how it gets funded, but here’s the idea. Dental clinic and possibly a dermatologist, as well. ie, you can walk into a trailer and be seen by someone who would clean your teeth and possibly give you feedback on your dental health. 2. the Same thing with a dermatologist – at Burning Man one year there was one in a lab coat who just stood in front of a shady area – you stripped down and he’d inspect your body. I got a clean bill of health one year and that sure cheered me.
I put out a couple of newsletters with my thoughts about marketing and also about life in general. If you’d like to receive them, click here and you’ll get some choices. Have fun out there! Albert
Regarding #4 above, someone just shared this with me on FB. Seems relevant. 
All the music from the main stage is right here! Enjoy!
The Eleven – July 2018
July 18, 2018 by
You Bet Your Sweet Bippy – The Eleven – July 2018
Here’s the Eleven for July 2018 – We find ourselves at a crossroads right now. We have an opportunity to make good decisions and save ourselves and future generations (and other species) from living in a complete hot mess or we can choose to move further toward the BBQ. I suggest we take simple and drastic actions to move towards the light and a future of life and comfort. Here are a few thoughts;
Trees: Trees are the lifeblood for us – we should have a worldwide moratorium on any further cutting of any trees – particularly native ones that haven’t been cut or burned in a long time. This especially includes urban trees. How about a worldwide pact that no urban trees are cut moving forward and we attempt to work around them and treasure them as they provide us oxygen without which we cannot live? They also do a lot of other good besides being beautiful to look at – shade, taking in carbon dioxide, and water management – all are big pluses in the tree category. Let’s not cut another one down – the simple action is for you to cut no more trees; plant new ones and work on keeping trees standing. Join our effort by clicking here. Thank you.
Second. There are way too many people on this planet. This is the truth. There are simple actions we can all take to ensure a planet with fewer people on it. Making sex ed available to all ages and making it a priority – will not only give us more intelligent people but will also lead to people choosing smaller families and thinking about when to procreate rather than being mindless about it. Along these lines – making sure that contraception is free and easily available will go a long way in making healthier societies – it also honors women and will make childbirth less dangerous around the world as we invest heavily in reproductive health across the board. Some have suggested that no one have children at all for a while – which in 5 years would shrink us naturally by one billion people. That would be incredible – imagine a less crowded world. Let’s work towards that.
Between these two issues – prioritizing trees and working towards a smaller population will lead humanity (and perhaps other species) towards a future where the air is still breathable and the planet is still habitable! What small action can you take today to make this happen? And what larger, global actions can we also accelerate? Thanks for playing your part.
Have a great Summer – Albert
PS – Here are some great pics from this year’s Breitenbush Summer Solstice Healing Retreat by Jef Murphy
PPS – see my write up from WDS 2018 and info about my gig on 7.25 in Portland
Here’s my Summer Schedule – I’d love your company
Join my list for Tagging Along with Albert at the Last Minute 🙂
- July 11-15 – Oregon Country Fair, yes, of course 🙂 For OCF, I’ll be part of Booth L12, Wileyware
- July 19-22 – Northwest String Summit – I’d love company for this 🙂 (I have tix) – I really think this is going to be a fun time this year. Many who would normally attend will be shaking their tushes off at the Gorge (Phish) – so, I anticipate a smaller crowd and the lineup is spectacular. Come and camp with me!
- July 25th – Come Sing Along with me at the Tiny Caravan Hotel on Alberta Street – I’ll be doing some songs by Ben Bochner and there will be s’mores!
- Picnic & Singalong with Albert @ Taborspace – Wednesday night August 1st – 6-8
- Pickathon – August 3-5 – Maybe (up for company!)
- Beloved, August 10-13 – yes! Year 11 – how could I not? – I have tickets, come!
- Singing Alive – August 24-27 (very likely)
if anything above strikes you and you’re interested in joining me – please write and let me know!
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World Domination Summit 2018
July 5, 2018 by 1 Comment
How to live an extraordinary life in a conventional world!
I’ve been hearing about the (World Domination Summit) WDS for many years. Little drips and drabs of “this was amazing” – “this blew my socks off“, etc. But somehow it never led to me actually attending. I have a high threshold of awesome (visiting Burning Man Place for 14 years does that). And, every time I’d dip my toes into checking it out I’d run into a sales-y website that was very sharp and newish looking and I didn’t see the appeal. I wish I had asked deeper questions about this event years ago because it freaking rocked! It was easily the best conference I’ve ever been to. Granted, I hear 2018 was one of the best years – but still – I would take a terrible version of this thing any day! OK, so, here goes. I’ve been hesitant to write something about this partly cause I’m still having fun connecting with the other attendees and following up on various links and hand-outs and bits of inspiration.
Know that it’s a beautiful day in Portland. The kind we only see maybe 5 of per year – so I’m sitting here in the shade listening to the KBOO radio screaming the Waterfront Blues Festival at me. So, at some point I may jump up and get on my bike – or, more likely, my friend Steve Bennett will arrive and we’ll play some tunes together on the porch.
So, #wds2018 – what is it? What was it? And, how did I end up going? In the beginning was a conversation with Terry Tomei on my porch about 8 months ago. Terry and I were discussing various things and I brought up WDS. He followed up and when tickets went on sale, he bought me one. I hadn’t exactly said “buy me one”, but he did – and then I paypal’d him the $707 for the ticket and then spent months hemming and hawing and wondering if I should sell the ticket. By the time of the event I had missed the chance to transfer the ticket to someone else and so I pulled up my britches and started attending on the Wens. before the main weekend events. I’m so glad I did. Conferees organized and led Meet-ups for one another and you could sign up for them via an easy-to-use app. The first activity I attended was one of the conference-offered academies – it was on turning your hobby into a business. It was fantastic. The next thing I went to was a meet-up by the Portland Art Museum by Jan Keck.
Jan led the group through a wonderful introduction/deep questions deck that he sells. Check it out @ https://www.jankeck.com/ask-deep-questions/ – that was my favorite physical thing I received all weekend. A deck of these cards. Jan is very kind and welcoming and is up to interesting things, for sure.
Meet-ups. This conference ran like nothing I have ever experienced. Participants through meet-ups for one another and each meet-up was listed on the app and was available until registration filled (and some also encouraged you to come even if the event was full). So, for the next 7 days I went to a mix of meet-ups, academies and then on Sat. and Sunday to main stage presentations – speakers and more – held at the Newmark Theater. The staff running the event is mostly volunteers (maybe all volunteers) – and people were very friendly, pumped and professional. I always felt held; welcomed and respected. WDS has attracted a lot of incredible people.
Many of the attendees are digital nomads. Many are people who are experts in their fields – a very inspiring bunch. I learned about masterminding; how to run workshops/events; how to be more vulnerageous; found an accountability buddy; attended a mens’ workshop that was quite ably led; learned some great new facilitation techniques from fellow Portlander, Marli; Amy and Gary led an incredible ice-breaker evening (which Jan joined for round 2 – campfire conversations). Overall, I’m super impressed by the organization and the people who attended. It felt like a big, happy family.
On Saturday, Chris, the founder, announced that there will be only 2 more years of WDS. This was year 8. Then, he announced that 200 tickets would be available for the next two years and 300 for just 2019. The first set of tickets sold out quickly. I ended up buying one for 2019, and then came home and bought 2 more for 2 people that I hope will join me. I am excited to share this with friends (and my brother, red rover red rover, let Dan come over!).
OK, now I can play! And, I’ll have a lot more to say about this – but wanted to share a first draft with you now! Whew – that was quite the firehose!
Here are some pics – sorry for the weird titling – but that’s all I got at the moment. Enjoy! Hopefully you can get some of the flavor of the event here 🙂 (more below as I think of things!)
So, more highlights – one of the last events I attended was on the Tues. after the big weekend. Paul Paul Lopushinsky led an Offers and Needs meet-up. More of this, please! The idea is that people can write up their offers or their needs or both and then find one another – people posted offers of consulting; personal coaching and a hundred other things while other people posted their needs. It was remarkable to watch community building and support in action!
Ah, the people! They came from all over the world – some live here. We were organized via a FB group – and there’s also a FB group for WDS alumni, too – both are very active. There are also local WDS FB groups, too. The people are an interesting mix. Many accomplished writers; thinkers; world travelers; athletes; coaches; and people busy following their passion. There are many who are doing whatever they can to leave the rat race and take others with them! Many entrepreneurs and business leaders. Then there are the deep thinkers; strategists; and people who are leading in the personal growth field – add them all together and you get a group that is willing to take risks to be more vulnerable with one another and create magic and lasting friendships. I was kind of surprised not to meet more Burners or people I know through other realms – but I was very pleased at who showed up and how they showed up. These people have their shit together – or, so it seems, because…
None of us have our ISHT together – as @yesyesmarsha – shared with us from the stage. She also set up 3 large boards for people to write about ways they are not pleased with themselves. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend. How humbling (you can see the post it notes in the photos above, but there were hundreds of them). It was a good reminder about how everyone has something they are not pleased about. There’s a whole book just on this topic, and I’m signing up for what ever Yes Yes Marsha is selling – her newsletter to start with.
More to follow. Advice Dice – noone talked about the advice dice we all received 🙂
WDS Swag photo by Armosa Studios
While at WDS I worked on workshopping and talking a lot about my dream to have guitar camps in Oregon and Maui. It’s a fun thing I like to do. I’ve been attending PSGW – a music camp outside of Seattle – since 1995. I love it – there are various formats, but key is – camp; 3 meals a day plus fun snacks at night; a group of people who are like-minded and there to play music and sing together; rinse and repeat. I’ve been dreaming that this would be a fun thing to do in Oregon and of course during WDS – the universe pushed back with “really, you want to do this? – OK, here, then. 2 camps responded back to me with interest. So, now I get to move this dream forward 🙂 You can sign up to be notified about when these will happen here.
Downside: of course with all this goodness there must have been some problems or issues, right? Of course there were. But interestingly, downsides tended to be that there weren’t enough hours in the day to absorb the firehose of information and awesomeness coming my way. A good problem to have and very Burning Man-like. Many of the WDS activities took place in NW Portland – which is one view of the City (I think many attendees probably have a warped view of Portland because of this – they spent most of their time downtown). That said – this is not anyone’s fault and led to a lot of potential meet-ups and HQ all being close – and so everything was pretty walkable. I think a downside would be each of our own resistances to growth, myself included. I noticed sometimes wishing – OH, I wish this was a little more like RC/Re-evaluation Counseling, or Solsara. Or, being underwhelmed by a fellow attendee’s response to something or having a bright light shining in my eyes from the main stage; or the app not working perfectly with my ancient phone. But otherwise? From the moment I landed @ HQ I was treated well and so many of my interactions with people started at a good and interesting place. So, kudos to WDS for a job very well-done. Other conferences could learn a ton from attending this. Kind of like how Vancouver Folk Festival sets the standard in how to run a large music festival (and go Beloved Festival for the mantle for a smaller festival 🙂
Many more pics here. by Tera and Armosa Studios.
Melinda Robino “I’m with you Albert. I’m still processing and thinking deep thoughts. As much as this is a global event (people from all over!), it could be about self-domination (is that weird?). What I mean is, I started opening up and taking control of all those negative thoughts about myself that I just harbored and had adapted as truth. I gave back when someone seemed to need a little confidence. So was this all woo-woo topics? Not a chance. It was play, work, performance, connecting, reaching, curiosity, taking, eating, making and a meet-up on just about anything. The Main Stage speakers were not just people that have “made it.” But more of people that work to live their life on their terms and a willingness to show us their path, tips, tricks and compassion. If that’s woo-woo, I’ll take an extra serving please!“
Here’s a great video that shared some of what 2018 was about and where the event headed next.
Howdy Pardner
June 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Want my Help with your Marketing?
I’ve partnered with a few local businesses over the years. One thing I’ve noticed by working closely with them is that their lists have grown and they seem to be succeeding. In one case a local restaurant definitely is busier (they also have great food and are awesome at what they do). The second is a terrarium store that I have been supporting since I first walked through the door. Again, great product; wonderful people and email LIST-BUILDING has been a part of their marketing!
This has led me to wonder what the exact effect of having a super fan working on your marketing is. I don’t have any exact statistics, but my guess is that having me or someone like me backing you and your business or organization could be very valuable. If you’d like to see if we’re a fit for a partnership, please get in touch.
I’m happy to discuss working for trade or other type of exchange.
I hope you’re having a great Summer. I look forward to hearing from you,
Albert Kaufman
PS – You are Amazing! 
The confluence of the Callowash and Clackamas Rivers in Oregon, USA!
